PVP Disc Spec Questions (Arena)

Yes, I know there are other posts asking the same general question, but I see so many conflicting answers, I wanted to ask more in-depth. A lot is opinion, but I'd love to hear it.

Holy Specialization: I noticed hardly anyone picks this up and instead, grabs Divine Fury. Maybe I am crazy, but why would one do that? If the argument is that there is not enough crit on the PVP gear, wouldn't that make Holy Spec that much more worthwhile?

Rapture: Same thing here. I understand why some wouldn't pick it up, but does mana become an issue? There aren't many ways to regen in Arena and I do understand that Disc Priests don't really outlast, but are more offensive. Still, wouldn't snagging Rapture help out enough to make it worth the points?
Reflective Shield: Yes, it gives rage, but for the rest of the field that smacks you around, is it worth it?

A question about gear: grab the spirit pieces or stick with crit (and some hit of course) pieces only? Last season, I had 2 and 3 for the extra resilience bonus, but was curious what the take was on it.

On a side note, my main focus will be 2v2. I have been away from the game for a short time, so please be nice Any suggestions are very much appreciated!

Re: PVP Disc Spec Questions (Arena)

Yes, I know there are other posts asking the same general question, but I see so many conflicting answers, I wanted to ask more in-depth. A lot is opinion, but I'd love to hear it.

Holy Specialization: I noticed hardly anyone picks this up and instead, grabs Divine Fury. Maybe I am crazy, but why would one do that? If the argument is that there is not enough crit on the PVP gear, wouldn't that make Holy Spec that much more worthwhile?

I understand what you're saying, but what it comes down to is that the boost just isn't enough. You're crit will still be so low after these points and you're abilities will still proc relatively infrequently. So you're just spending points to make something really low...just low.

Besides the only thing it helps really is Divine Aegis when the points could be spent on something solid that can always be counted on and that can always help the team. Like Divine Fury for instance helps you be a little offensive, which is key to a good team. What I did though is (a little different than most I guess) just put the 3 points I see people usually putting into Imp Renew into it because I still love crit, but I definitely see the argument against it when it comes to it VS Divine Fury.

Rapture: Same thing here. I understand why some wouldn't pick it up, but does mana become an issue? There aren't many ways to regen in Arena and I do understand that Disc Priests don't really outlast, but are more offensive. Still, wouldn't snagging Rapture help out enough to make it worth the points?

Who doesn't take Rapture? They should. It definitely helps you last and it also helps your partner spit out some extra stuff, be it CC, DPS, or a quick life saving ability, due to the energy/RP/Rage/Mana return.

Reflective Shield: Yes, it gives rage, but for the rest of the field that smacks you around, is it worth it?

I think so. I see many high rated (2500+) priests take it. Many classes can blow themselves up on it. Since most of what you're doing will be healing, it's a nice way to passively still help out your partner kill the other team. They will usually focus a priest too and getting them low on your shield might give you breathing room once in a while.

A question about gear: grab the spirit pieces or stick with crit (and some hit of course) pieces only? Last season, I had 2 and 3 for the extra resilience bonus, but was curious what the take was on it.

Spirit gear. You can mix in a few crit pieces if you like but the majority should be spirit gear. I grab the MP5 stuff when it's a choice (like the neck and cloak) since MP5 works while casting and you'll be casting 90% of the time. Check out all the high rated priests and they use mostly spirit gear. It's a lasting game for us at higher ratings.

On a side note, my main focus will be 2v2. I have been away from the game for a short time, so please be nice Any suggestions are very much appreciated!

Haha me too buddy. I just recently got back into PVP and had all the same questions as you. I'm focusing on 2's also. So by no means am I an expert but this is what I have put together after a couple weeks of casual investigating. If I'm blatantly wrong about anything I would like to hear from some pro's as well lol.

Re: PVP Disc Spec Questions (Arena)

First responder has it mostly right.

Holy Spec is simply not as good as other talents that you could put points into. Divine Fury is critical when you run in conjunction with most DPS classes. A lot of priests will hesitate to DPS in Arena, and that's something you gotta train yourself to do, and at the right times.

No one doesn't take Rapture.

Most take Reflective Shield. And they should.

I can see mixing Satin and Mooncloth for the resil bonus if you're terribly low, but as long as you've got at least 650 or so you should be aiming for Moonclothx4 or 5. Crit is still too RNG to be relied on by a healer, and more Spirit will always net a return of more mana.

Re: PVP Disc Spec Questions (Arena)

Oh yeah totally forgot about hit. Thanks for that Proletariat. The Deadly ring has +hit too.

I don't remember if grabbing the +hit stuff was a common choice or not, it slipped my mind when I was asking around about PVP stuff. I'm sure it is as being offensive as Disc is very key and the +hit will help out big time. It helps with dispels too. Not the actual dispel mechanic but for the actual landing...and you do that A LOT! The mana you'll save grabbing 2 +hit pieces most likely outweighs the regen from 2 spirit pieces.

Re: PVP Disc Spec Questions (Arena)

Thanks for the awesome responses. Good points for sure. I have always been into arena, though mostly only 2v2. Got Duelist two seasons in a row with a feral druid (the hubby), but that was back in the early seasons. I have always had a hard time being able to DPS, but I will definitely try to be more on the offensive.

Would either of you mind linking some builds? I now have a much better idea of what I am aiming for, but when I started to build a spec, I realized that there are still a few things I am unsure about taking or not. (IE: Blessed Recovery, Grace, Absolution) This is the spec I have come up with, thoughhttp://www.wowhead.com/?talent#bxhruhGiRcsfbRtf0th:mA

Also, glyphs? I feel penance and FHeal are musts... but for the third: Renew, PW:Shield, Holy Nova, PS? I'm leaning toward renew or PS, but curious what you guys think.

I will go check out some of the higher rated Priests spec, but I love to get input as opposed to just following without a clue. And again, very much appreciate the responses

Re: PVP Disc Spec Questions (Arena)

FH isn't that common a glyph choice from what I've seen.

It's more usual for Pain Suppression and Penance being the "must-takes" with PW:Shield (sucks with low SP, i.e Hateful gear from experience), Inner Fire (I use this for the extra mitigation) and FH (which I don't use that often, unless there is a lot of pressure).

I heal in the Arena
Retired Moderator - Priest and PvPYou can follow me @UltimaMMO_C

Re: PVP Disc Spec Questions (Arena)

I'm generally in agreement with the other responses, but will add the following considering you're specifically pursuing the 2s bracket:

Get 4pc for the bonus. You'll want (and need some) crit from off-set and 5th piece, but the benefit of being able to re-shield 2 seconds earlier does a lot more to enhance your survivability than 50 resilience, especially against MS teams where shields are 2x as effective as healing done.

There are some top priests out there who run in full satin, but unless your partner is extremely gifted with burst or capable of working with you to make it easy for you to get away to drink, I'd stick with mooncloth for longevity.

Aside from penance and pain suppression glyphs, get the inner fire glyph. Flash heal is nice, and will save you mana, but with abundance of melee out there the substantial extra melee mitigation is a far better investment.

Regarding Holy Spec, I run 4pc mooncloth, mostly spirit off-pcs, but maintain about 18-20% holy crit with 3 pts invested, depending on trinket. I've picked up Div. Aegis, and in practice have found this to be a better investment than Imp. Renew (which has always been poor for disc, and is scaled very badly at pvp SP levels and without the glyph, which has no place in arena). The benefit became most evident again versus MS teams - particularly warriors - where the occasional extra mitigation from a DA proc has enabled me to stay alive that extra couple of seconds for a fresh heal, bubble, or burst.

I'm in the minority in not selecting Divine Fury, but far from alone. I made that selection in part to be able to afford DA, in part because my partner (DK) is a hard-hitter on his own, and in part because a Holy Fire -> SWD -> Penance (if necessary and safe to not reserve for healing) packs quite a punch, still plenty fast esp. after a shield.

Regarding other talents, only put 1/3 into Blessed Recovery to get another dispellable buff (the talent itself isn't really that good) and pick up Imp. Inner Fire. Aside from another 50ish spellpower, it gives you 32 charges of IF instead of 20, meaning you're having to refresh it less frequently. Also, consider how much you find yourself actually using FH in arenas and whether Imp. FH is worthwhile. With the degree to which we weave in our offensive spells and have to keep on the move to LoS, I've found it lackluster (obviously nice to have, but not always the best place to put points).

Edit - Get the hit ring, neck, and cloak. If needed, and if you can sacrifice the SP, consider the +hit to gloves. Missing dispels and mana burns is bad enough, but missing a fear is gamebreakin. Be sure to get spell penetration to cloak and OH/wand options if you can, as well (getting OH this week ).

Re: PVP Disc Spec Questions (Arena)

I kinda have to invest three points in either Imp Renew or Holy Spec in order to reach farther down to Des. Prayer, and since Imp Renew reliably increases the healing from the spell, and Holy Spec gives the slightest chance of a larger benefit, I'm still gonna bank on Imp Renew.

I'm not sure about DA. I had it at one time, the dropped it, but with the amount of rogue/MS war that I've been encountering I might pick it up again. I still think it's a lackluster talent, but I will admit that it provides at least some mitigation, esp against MS teams.

I definitely wouldn't use Fheal glyph. Mana doesn't become an issue until you've got the gear to survive against double dps or Mut opening burst. Once you've got 26k with Fort and 900 resil then you can begin to worry about mana =P

Re: PVP Disc Spec Questions (Arena)

I definitely understand his argument about putting 3 into Imp Renew vs Holy Spec, depends on you really. I do find my renew being dispelled often, especially when they see a bubble. I don't think the choice between the 2 is game breaking though so choose what you want.

That build right there is good. It's pretty standard and there is not much you could change really. My build is 90% similar. I took 1 point out of Grace and put it into Blessed Recovery, it pretty much takes 5% dmg off of crits (over time but still) and it's good to take up a dispel. 1/2 Grace isn't a huge deal so I've been liking it this way. I also have DA instead of Imp FHeal, which is arguable as you can see. Still, I like bubble and it's good for MS.

Not much else you can change, some people argue against Martyrdom since at high resilience you won't be getting crit as much but still, I like it. The only other thing that would be nice to have is Absolution anyway, which is arguable too, depends on your mana situation I guess. Stick with Martyrdom for now.

For glyphs, PS and Penance are the 2 must haves. The 3rd, I don't know, I would say Shield or FHeal, but only FHeal if your regen and mana is really bad.

Re: PVP Disc Spec Questions (Arena)

Definitely glad I made this post, finally getting some good answers to my questions!

I think for me, since I will be doing 2's only and with a feral Druid (who sits right next to me, very easy to communicate), I might switch things up a bit from the norm. He has a great bit of burst and with all his CC, it's easy to get away. Though since we will be fresh 80's from rerolling, it'll be painful til we get good enough gear, and I will probably mold the spec around that for now.

Re: PVP Disc Spec Questions (Arena)

Originally Posted by ainra

Definitely glad I made this post, finally getting some good answers to my questions!

I think for me, since I will be doing 2's only and with a feral Druid (who sits right next to me, very easy to communicate), I might switch things up a bit from the norm. He has a great bit of burst and with all his CC, it's easy to get away. Though since we will be fresh 80's from rerolling, it'll be painful til we get good enough gear, and I will probably mold the spec around that for now.

Appreciate all the awesome advice!

It will be very painful until you get a decent stockpile of pvp gear. Lacking resilience and stamina in sufficient quantity, you'll find yourself going down pretty quickly. But that's ok - we all have to start somewhere. Bear with it (no pun intended) and farm Wintergrasp religiously for tokens - you can get some good gear there pretty quickly, and a ton of honor with the weekly quests.

If you're going to be running long-term in 2's w/ feral, you can probably get away with picking up the satin set instead of mooncloth. The crit gear = more throughput which you'll need early on (making Divine Aegis a really good option btw). This does sacrifice some regen, but you should occasionally be able to get away to drink, and even if you can't there's always the innervate (just be careful to be able to LoS or CC any enemies that can dispel since you won't have the potential for 90% dispel resistance that resto druids can enjoy).

After the PS and Penance glyphs, DEFINITELY get the Inner Fire glyph. You'll really need the extra armor it provides, and the additional charges allow it to last considerably longer before you have to refresh the buff.

Re: PVP Disc Spec Questions (Arena)

This somehow has something to do with this topic so i'll post it here instead of making a new one.

I'm playing 2s with a rogue, every thing aboutthe gear/spec/glyphs is under control but I am in much doubt about one thing, which is Mp5 vs Spirit.

Example, which is best for a priest: Bracers with Mp5 or bracers with spirit ?
The reason i'm in so much doubt is i've read on arenajunkies (I think it was there) that Mp5 is better than spirit in this season... the guy who posted the thread has some diagrams, good argumentation but i'm in doubt anyway.

If there's any1 out there who can post some good (and argumented!!!) math for me i'd be delighted.

2 more things. I'm running with meditation ofc, so the argument that Mp5 works while casting wont last, cause spirit will work it aswell.